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My Spanish text "Vistas" covers weather expressions. I see that the majority of the time 'hacer' should be used. However, the text also shows the use of 'estar', as in "está lloviendo".
Does this expression mean that it's raining right now?
The text also says to use 'está' with '-ado' endings (e.g., 'nublado', 'soleado'). Can anyone explain why, or is this just a rule I need to recall?
Notice that "hacer" is used with nouns:
hace sol, hace viento, hace frío...
while "estar" is used with verbs in -ing form
está lloviendo, está nevando, está granizando
or you can even say "está haciendo sol".
You use "estar" with verbs and "hacer" with nouns.
"Está lloviendo" does mean "it is raining". The -ndo form is like -ing, it means action happening right now. However, you can use other tenses, like the present perfect:
ha estado lloviendo = it's been raining.
Finally, -ado or -ido is the participle form, is like the "-ed". Altough it is a participle, it can be regarded as an adjective. The "literal" transltaions would be
Está nublado = "It is clouded" → it is cloudy
So that's a good explanation.
